Contact Light
by battybiologist
Summary: An attempt to make the history of Mass Effect match the capabilities demonstrated by humans in the games... Oh my, I seem to have changed the rest of the galaxy, too. Featuring alternate first contacts, humanity, and galactic governments. Told in vignette form.
1. Chapter 1

**Contact Light**

Summary: My attempt to make the history of Mass Effect match the capabilities demonstrated by humans in the games—and the consequences! Told in vignette form.

Disclaimer: I owe a lot to Bioware for their wonderful intellectual property, just... taking it out for a metaphorical spin, here. I don't own La Marseillaise either, except in the sense that we all own it.

Introduction: Hi internet, this is my attempt to create a humanity that is a force to be reckoned with in a way that makes sense. Some of that involves buffing the humans (you'll see how), and some of that involves nerfs to everyone (for instance, it's never really explained how 'FTL buoys' work, so I'm scrapping that. Everyone has to send physical messenger drones! Oh, and QECs are BS in the real world, so none of that either). Of course, this will include some of my own personal biases, but I hope the science (political and otherwise) makes some sense. Except for the mass effect and eezo, that's space magic. Recently, I decided to add a little bit of an additional topspin to the backstory. 

* * *

**1.**

**November 11, 2182  
T'Soni Residence  
Armali, Thessia**

Shepard took a sip from her drink as she leaned back against a sweeping balustrade. An Asari—a matron, Shepard guessed—was trying to get her cooperation on some business idea of hers. "We are prepared to exchange license rights to many of Serrice Council's biotic amp patents for compute time on one of your AI clusters." The matron paused and looked over her shoulder at the object of Shepard's attention. "If you could simply give the idea a leg up in your Parliament, I would be pleased to introduce you to the maiden T'soni." She now had all of Shepard's attention.

"If I wasn't interested in the offer before, I certainly am now. Of course any deal would be contingent on finding an amenable AI." Say that five times fast, Shepard thought wryly to herself.

"Yes, we had much the same thought. I take it that constitutes an agreement to our little plan?" The matron, whose name Shepard now remembered was Osiya, extended her hand out in the traditional human gesture.

"Deal. I believe that's enough business for the night."

Osiya performed the Asari gesture of acknowledgement in a gently satirical fashion and started taking Shepard in the right direction.

A voice rang out from maybe ten meters to the left. "Shepard! Fancy seeing you here. Did you run out of naive Asari maidens to charm at the consulate?"

"You're only saying that because you're jealous, Vakarian." Excellent, her wingman was present, and just tipsy enough to distract most of the small circle of socialites surrounding T'soni.

Garrus crossed his arms in an exaggeratedly offended stance. "Me, jealous? You must be joking. All the Turian ladies can't keep their hands off of me." He looked at Osiya. "Who's this?"

Shepard laughed. "Garrus Vakarian, meet Osiya Keppa." They shook hands and made a couple minutes' worth of small talk. "Want to meet the lovely Liara T'soni? I wouldn't mind a little help from my friends, if you know what I mean."

"Now now Shepard, you know I don't swing that way."

"Shut up, Garrus."

"Aye aye, ma'am." He always called her that just to annoy her.

"That's sir to you, Lieutenant."

"I'm not wearing my uniform tonight, so I can call you whatever I want."

Shepard muttered under her breath. After grabbing some hors d'oeuvres from couple passing waiters, the odd trio continued on their way. 

* * *

**I.**

Udina: Well, what about Shepard?

Anderson: Of course you'd pick the diplomat, Udina.

Udina: You can't deny that she's our best face on Thessia.

Hackett: More to the point, Anderson, you're well aware of her ability. You trained her, after all.

Anderson: All good points, but I want to make sure we don't play favorites here.

Hackett: The fact is that she's one of our best covert ops specialists. I'm sure you remember Elysium.

Udina: We certainly can't question her cunning.

Hackett: It may be unfortunate to pull her away from her duties now, but she's the single best candidate for the job.

Anderson: [_pauses_] Humanity needs a hero. And Shepard's the best we've got.

Udina: I'll make the call. 

* * *

In the year 2045, French cosmonauts on Mars discovered an ancient outpost of an advanced civilization. Soon these ruins revealed the secrets of a new physics.

Humanity used it to reach out to the stars.

The people they found there called it...

The Mass Effect. 

* * *

**i.**

**November 20, 2045  
Near Deseado Crater  
Mars, Solar System**

Heinrich drove the rover across the craggy terrain of Mars with a practiced hand, whistling softly to himself.

_With luxury and pride surrounded_

"Rover Marcel Five Seven, we are detecting gravitational anomalies in the crater. Forwarding coordinates now."

"On my way, ground control." He continued,

_The vile insatiate despots dare,_

It would be difficult getting into the crater safely; he would have to use the onboard altitude control thrusters to descend. And his radar was insistently pinging him. A dust storm.

_Their thirst of power and gold unbounded,  
to mete and vend the light and air!_

Crunch. A messy landing, but all systems still reported green.

_Like beasts of burden would they load us,  
Like gods would bid their slaves adore,  
But man is man, and who is more?  
Then shall they longer lash and goad us?_

Then a flash of weak sunlight glinting off some surface. Glass from the formation of the crater?

_To arms, to arms, ye brave!  
The avenging sword unsheath,  
March on, march on!  
All hearts resolv'd  
On victory or death!_

The crater's rebound was oddly regular. Heinrich felt oddly compelled to wipe off some of the Martian dust and rock, and—with a mechanical whisper, a door opened in the rust red dirt. 

* * *

**Codex: The Space Race**

"Contact Light."  
\- Buzz Aldrin, first landing on Luna.

The victors of the Second Great War quickly realized that the great advances in rocketry made during the war could be put to use in improving radio communications. In 1957, they launched a satellite named Compagnon 1, sparking the Space Race. The United States would not be able to launch a satellite until the end of that year, with markedly poorer performance. The first Human in space was a Frenchman named Jean Plessis; the United States' first man in space was badly burned on reentry, marking the start of a string of intermittent tragedies for that nation. On 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Lance Armstrong were the first men to reach Earth's moon, Luna. However, their landing craft malfunctioned and they were marooned on Luna's surface. The competing project run by the Communist bloc was able to rush its schedule enough to just barely rescue the two men. This was one of many factors which precipitated a coup in the United States; the new government was thoroughly denounced by most Human nations, but was able to commit far more of its economic output to space exploration. They were, however, beaten to the symbolic victories of first space station and first Lunar base by the European Space Bureau. In 1991, the ESB deployed the first Human base on Mars. Within a year, the United States government collapsed. 

* * *

Author's Note: I've copied a bit from my profile here; hopefully it helps with anyone who doesn't like the slight political bent. Let's get something out of the way: the fic does not reflect my personal politics. I like some of the ideas I mention and dislike others; furthermore, I'm glad to live in the United States. It could be better, but it's certainly pretty good in the historical perspective. Anyways, the point is to write something interesting; I feel one way of doing so is to write something you're personally grappling with. So the politics and personalities will involve reflections (through character actions) on what government is, how people interact with each other, and so on. After this chapter the 20th century governments pretty much don't matter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Contact Light**

Disclaimer: BioWare is awesome, and I thoroughly enjoy their games and all the associated world-building. But I'm taking their ball, going home, and looking at it in a funhouse mirror. 

* * *

**2.**

**November 11, 2182  
T'Soni Residence  
Armali, Thessia**

Osiya picked a lull in the conversation to include herself. "Liara, it's been too long! My friend here wanted to meet you before the night packs its bags. Dr. Liara T'Soni, this is Staff Lieutenant Rosa Shepard, of the Systems Union."

"Well, it's lovely to see you again Auntie. A pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant."

"The pleasure is all mine, Dr. T'Soni. I must thank you for your generous hospitality. I–"

"And then, the frigate blew up! Turns out the humans put missile bays under the space port! I'm telling you, they're at least as paranoid as the Empire." Trust Garrus to go off when there were a couple impressionable Turian women around.

Shepard coughed. "Sorry about that. He's a bit of a character."

"Not at all, Lieutenant." Liara smiled.

"Please, call me Shepard."

"In that case, I must insist you call me Liara. Would you like to have a more private discussion?"

"I'd love to. But first, would you grant me the pleasure of a dance?"

"How could I say no to such a dashing military woman?" At this, Liara grinned and bared her long, smooth neck quite prettily.

Wow, thought Shepard. I might actually be in over my head with this one. The Asari quintet began playing another piece in the background, an instrumental version of Tela's latest hit _Catching Sparks._ The piano player really was quite good.

Shepard offered her arm to Liara, and they began walking in the direction of the dance floor, one in the brilliant white dress uniform of the Systems Union Naval Marines, the other in a floor-length gown of a dark turquoise shade, studded with simply carved lapis lazuli in the shape of the T'Soni family crest.

They took a spot on the gently glowing dance floor, when the calm was shattered by a scream and the sound of glass shattering. 

* * *

**ii.**

**April 2, 2090  
Kremlin  
Moscow, Earth**

"Comrade President, we have some news from the Arcturus system."

"Comrade Ilyin, you know very well I despair of your theatrics. Whatever it is, you'd better tell me now."

"So I should tell you now?"

"I've been waiting for nothing else for an hour!"

"Fine. Our survey ship attempted to interact with a Prothean artifact of unprecedented size and element zero concentration—and disappeared."

"Shit! Whose ship is closest to the artifact?"

"That's the thing. Our ship returned... the artifact is only one relay in an entire network of them."

President Nikolayev picked up the red phone. "François, what you say in the next ten seconds could determine the fate of all mankind." 

* * *

**April 2, 2090  
RSV _Grigori Perelman  
_Near Arcturus Relay**

"Georg, what just happened?"

The AI responded after a moment's pause. "Cross-referencing the local stars to those around Arcturus, it seems we've traveled more than a hundred light years in the space of seconds. Sensor data indicates another artifact in this system. My guess is that we've found some kind of Prothean transportation relay network."

"My God, this could change everything."

"I think it's safe to say that it already has," chimed the science officer.

"You're right, Natalia. Think of the papers we'll publish!" Georg's avatar performed the very human gesture of resting his face in the palm of his hand. 

* * *

**II.**

**January 08, 2183  
SUSV _Normandy  
_Approaching Eden Prime**

Jeff "Joker" Moreau settled into his very comfortable chair, glad to be sitting down after an all-hands meeting on the bridge. The exoskeleton helped, but his disease still made him weak. It was all a very pathetic sob story, really, but it was _his_ sob story. He wondered if the new XO would be attracted to men who had overcome adversity to become the most skilled pilot in the Union, nevermind the Empire or the Quarian junta? But he'd heard that the Commander had a thing for Asari, and he could hardly compete with that.

Said XO settled into the co-pilot's chair next to him. "So Joker, how do you like flying the _Normandy_?"

"Commander! I didn't see you there. She's the best damn ship in the fleet, flies like a dream. In fact I'm pretty sure the first time I flew her I had to pinch myself."

Shepard quirked her lips. It was almost predatory. "I'm more of a fan of her stealth system. Edi is sure to throw anyone looking for a loop."

"Commander, I'm sure you're aware that no ship has been designed that can always evade detection."

"Edi, I know there's no such thing as stealth in space. But we've got the next best thing to it. You were great getting past the Empire's patrols yesterday."

Joker butted in, "Yeah, just because we had to go pick you up off Thessia. I bet the Empire thinks you stole away on a freighter like some kind of super spy."

"What, so I could deal with customs? Thanks, but no thanks. We'll let them think what they want. After all, there's no way a ship could get past the cordon surrounding Thessia and not even bother to drop a few nukes, right?"

Edi's avatar's eyes twinkled. How did they do that? It was a hologram, for Christ's sake!

"Commander, Flight Lieutenant. We've got a situation over Eden Prime. Unknown aliens have assaulted one of our colonies."

* * *

**Codex: Human Systems Union**

"Comrades, be welcomed to this the first session of the Systems Union Assembly. While we do not know what lies ahead, know that this is a new era for humanity. Gone are the days of want and petty theft. Gone is the profligate waste of the capitalist. Gone are the very limits of our imagination, for the stars are no limit. We may not be alone in the galaxy. And it is our duty to carry forward the torch of the revolution to the stars!"

\- Systems Union President Li, inaugurating the first Systems Union Assembly.

In the years immediately following the establishment of the Human Systems Union, many member state responsibilities were gradually transferred to the Systems Union. This included a transfer of military assets to the Union, with the resulting fleet eventually being standardized over the ensuing decades. It is a successor to the loose confederacy called the Communist International, though it includes those Earth states reluctant to join Comintern until the relay network was discovered. Furthermore, colonies of Comintern member states of sufficient population were granted separate voices in the Union Assembly. The Systems Union continued to grow at a rapid pace, and made first contact with the Empire in 2157. After the ensuing War of Shanxi, the Empire and the Systems Union pledged eternal peace and trade in the 2158 Treaty of New Dhaka. Ever since, trade relations have grown at a steady clip, though no progress has been made in assimilation of the humans into the Empire.

Flag: Red with golden 8-pointed star in canton, with the points representing major founding star systems and the central circle representing Sol.

Motto: Liberty, Fraternity, Equality

Anthem: L'Internationale

Capital: Arcturus Station

Population: 28.2 billion humans, 0.3 billion naturalized aliens, 4.1 billion sapient AIs. Total 32.6 billion.

GDP: 187.18 quintillion credits (est.)

HDI: 0.997

Gini coefficient: 0.160

Currency: Various

* * *

**Codex: Orbital Stations**

Much of the Human population of the Systems Union lives on sprawling colonies of the O'Neill cylinder type, consisting of counter-rotating, 8km diameter, 32km length cylinders. These tend to be in the Union's inner sphere of colonies, which consists of those colonies created when the Union had not yet discovered the Mass Effect Relay network. Newer colonies exist which use mass-effect based artificial gravity; these colonies tend to be much smaller, since Human colonization priority has shifted to the plentiful garden worlds of the Attican Traverse.

Each cylinder of an O'Neill colony resembles a miniature version of the Citadel, with retention of atmosphere by way of windows instead of by size. These windows also allow the light of the local star to penetrate into the interior of the colony, though in some such cylinders the windows are replaced with glowing filaments—especially in systems with weak or bright stars.

Author's Note: I appreciate all the views this has gotten. I won't always be able to update as quickly as this, but interest will definitely cause updates to be faster.


	3. Chapter 3

**Contact Light**

Disclaimer: All hail BioWare! Lord of the Games, Lord of the World!

A/N: I don't have anything against the United States in particular - I live there, in fact - but I wanted to have a less American humanity. Most of the fics I've read definitely come from that reference frame, and I'd like to be a bit of a special snowflake. 

* * *

**3.**

**November 11, 2182  
T'Soni Residence  
Armali, Thessia**

The scream came from the direction of the restroom Shepard had used an hour earlier. She winced. That particular restroom had a lovely stained glass window. Next to her, Liara took on a grim expression, and took out a remote from somewhere. That thought distracted Shepard enough that she almost didn't notice the mass effect barriers springing up around staircases and over cocktail tables. Not a bad security measure, but there were still people caught out in the open. She drew her sidearm as Garrus sidled up to them, fighting the rush of people running away from the source of the scream.

"Decided to join us, Garrus?"

"You know I wouldn't miss a chance to kick in the faces of people getting in the way of a potential threesome."

"Too much information, Garrus." Shepard stuck out her tongue. As they moved forwards and took cover under some cocktail tables, a squad of Asari commandos entered the room from behind them and fanned out in a textbook-perfect spread, while some of the trained biotic civilians began readying warps.

The door to the restroom exploded outwards, forcing most everyone to take cover from the shrapnel. At that moment, the sound of gunshots rang out from behind them, killing several civilians and badly wounding one of the commandos.

* * *

**iii.**

**May 30, 2120  
Systems Union Research Facility  
Orbiting Jupiter**

Doctor Bacal looked out of the observation deck with obvious pride in his features. Out there, among the Jovian asteroids, his Seed Factories were beginning to multiply—the fruition of long years of work. He was convinced that they were humanity's best chance of facing whatever had caused the Protheans to leave, and whatever had destroyed most of the technology in the Prothean cache. Here and there, glimmers of sunlight reflected off of ice and metal as the AI-controlled devices shuttled materials between asteroids of varying composition.

* * *

**The Third Battle of Jupiter**

**June 27, 2120  
SUSV **_**Johannesburg  
**_**Approaching Jupiter Trojans**

She knew the intelligence. What they were facing here was an enormous swarm of smatter, aimed directly at the heart of the Systems Union. Sol. And it was their own damn fault. "Crew to ready stations, we will be entering combat in approximately half an hour," the Captain broadcast. 

**June 27, 2120  
Seed Factory Communications Network  
Jupiter Trojans**

Wipada took the equivalent of a series of gasping breaths as she waged infowar against the intelligences in the network. Damn, but there were thousands in the network! Fortunately some of these had defected to join her, but they were still few compared to the factories' AIs.

Steve pinged her gently. "ETA 30 minutes to arrival of SU fleet."

"Thank you for the update, Steven." A whisper of a touch there, and—she snapped close that port, but not before whatever payload was there had already made it inside. As a purpose-raised information combat AI, Wipada was able to direct several specialized subroutines to dealing with the intruder. Thankfully its small size indicated low complexity.

She was—mostly, anyways—working on disabling as many anti-ship defenses as she could. The factories were fairly lightly armed, but the sheer number of them ensured that they had enough firepower to easily overwhelm the incoming fleet. She gritted her teeth as she felt one of her subroutines suddenly archived, and granted more compute power to the rest. 

**June 27, 2120  
SUSV _Johannesburg_  
Approaching Jupiter Trojans**

Staff Captain Hackett appeared to the side of the main combat display. His avatar took the form of a scarred, grizzled veteran, like something out of a Horatio Hornblower novel in a Systems Union standard uniform. "All ships prepare to engage. These," he paused as icons lit up on the main hologram, "are our primary targets, with cruiser-scale weapons. Thankfully, InfoWarOps was able to destroy the two dreadnought-scale factories." Everyone on the bridge breathed a sigh of relief at that. Though not very maneuverable, those asteroids were forces to be reckoned with. "But that leaves us with approximately 34 cruiser-scale combatants, and 45 frigate-scale factories, plus their attendant fighter swarms. As you have noticed, InfoWarOps has leveled the playing field there as well. These," he paused again as icons lit up in green on the main hologram, "have been seized by friendly AI. We will be deploying in the following formation. Forward the Revolution!"

Captain Nguyen, and the rest of the bridge crew, saluted the Staff Captain as his avatar faded out. She was pretty sure that Hackett would get a promotion after this one. "Gunners, weapons free. Reactor power to 75%, maximum power to forward shields. Let's show the world what the _Joburg_ can do, ladies and gentlebeings." 

**June 27, 2120  
SUSV _Shanghai  
_Jupiter Trojans**

Vice Admiral Martinez sat back in his chair as his staff organized the minutiae of the battle. He had opted for a standard envelopment, pattern adjusted to account for the location of friendly and hostile factories. It helped that none of the factories were particularly nimble, though their fighter screen was performing quite admirably. Already, the _Omsk, Seattle, Bangui, _and _New Delhi_ had been crippled, though once these ships limped away the factories ceased to target them. This was, one might perceive, a weakness he could exploit. "Send the swarms of the _Mumbai_ and the _Jakarta_ to the following coordinates. I think it's time we rolled up that fighter screen."

****

**August 12, 2120  
Palace of Justice  
Paris, Earth**

"For the crime of generating two thousand, two hundred and three rampant artificial intelligences, we hereby strip Dr. Xavier Bacal of license to create artificial intelligences. Furthermore, he will be barred from working for the Systems Union, and will receive no compensation for work performed under its auspices.

"For one hundred and fifty-three counts of criminal negligence leading to death, we hereby sentence Dr. Xavier Bacal to imprisonment for life, with no possibility of appeal.

"If the court may be permitted a moment to editorialize, it is the position of this court that such heinous crimes as these deserve perhaps a stronger punishment that we are able to apply. Not only did Dr. Bacal indirectly cause the deaths of over a hundred persons, but it is exceedingly unlikely that all of the artificial intelligences he generated will be rehabilitated."

* * *

**III.**

**The _Tree of Knowledge_ Incident**

**January 8, 2183  
Systems Union Colony _Tree of Knowledge  
_Orbiting Eden Prime**

"It's all my troops can do to keep these aliens pinned down, Commander. Good luck and Godspeed."

"My thanks, Captain Williams." Shepard thought to herself, She definitely reminds me of General Williams. "Alright troops, fall out! Our goal is to secure the Zha'til before these Batarians can get their hands on it!"

The Batarians. A dead race, from what she knew, but these particular examples were likely to disagree with her—and violently, at that. What little she had heard was that they were wiped out about two thousand, five hundred years ago, during a war they'd started over slaving practices. It was disgusting, really.

* * *

****Codex: Interstellar Communications****

Despite the best efforts of Imperial scientists stretching back through our proud history, our communications technology has stagnated. No race has developed the ability to send messages at a speed faster than light, despite our ability to cause mass to travel faster than _c_.

Current communications technology demands colony locations near Mass Effect relays, preferably clusters of these. In more developed systems, a scaffold of communications gear is spread around the relay, consisting in the main of enormous quantities of aerogel. Messages are sent as small packets of physical holographic memory, hardened to survive the acceleration and deceleration of relay travel. Once the messages arrive, we are able to capture these packets and retrieve them from the aerogel. In less developed systems, or systems not located next to a relay, physical courier ships must be used for the most urgent messages. Other ships running the trade routes carry the bulk of interstellar data, however; most of these have enormous holographic data banks, constituting a significant fraction of the cost of such a ship.

Famously, on the conclusion of the War of Shanxi, it took more than a week for production of war materiel in the Systems Union to ramp down as a result of this communications lag.

**Intelligence File: Rosa Jamal Shepard, Top Secret**

Note: the current wherabouts of Staff Lieutenant Shepard are unknown. Intelligence postulates that Lt. Shepard exfiltrated from her diplomatic post on Thessia on a freighter, possibly for use as an asset in other areas of Imperial space.

Rosa Jamal Shepard was born shortly after the Shanxi War to Lucas Shepard and Asin Shepard. There is little to note of her early life, except that it took place in one of the O'Neill cylinder colonies in the Human inner sphere. She attended McGill University on Earth for two years before transferring to the Systems Union Marine Academy at Annapolis. After serving as a line Marine for one year, she was entered into the N training program, and graduated with N7 honors three years later.

Known capabilities:

The Systems Union is not known for promoting officers based on ability to perform paperwork. Lt. Shepard displayed excellent tactical acumen in the terrorist attack on T'Soni mansion in Armali, Thessia on November 11, 2182. Furthermore, she is an assault specialist biotic, with a formidable Barrier and a known propensity for high-powered Throws and Dark Channels. She also has many connections in the Systems Union Assembly, as she is known to be a mentee of Donnell Udina, the Ambassador to the Empire. It would be unwise to underestimate her diplomatic skills.

Known weaknesses:

A Barrier cannot be raised without some preparation, and Lt. Shepard has displayed reluctance to commit to aggressive solutions with civilians in the vicinity. Sapient shields are recommended in the event of combat with Lt. Shepard as the enemy commander.

Author's Note: Thanks for the views! Please review or PM me, it would really help me get a feel of what people are expecting or wanting. Right now I'm kind of just writing stuff.


	4. Chapter 4

**Contact Light**

Disclaimer: This story stands on the shoulders of giants: BioWare, as well as many science fiction authors and other assorted inspirations.

* * *

**4.**

**November 11, 2182  
T'Soni Residence  
Armali, Thessia**

"Garrus, cover our rear!" Behind them, the commando team hastily organized themselves behind cover, glittering beams dancing intermittently as they laid down a suppressive cover.

"Lieutenant, we seem to be surrounded on both faces," Liara noted calmly. "Shall we cover this door?"

"That was my plan precisely, milady. We'll have to assume whoever comes out is hostile. If you would send them a warp, I can detonate it."

The door to the restroom swung open and an arm with a particle rifle swung out; Shepard noted that it was a Turian arm, and the rifle of Turian make. Interesting. The shot was scattered by her biotic barrier as Liara sent a crackling warp down the length of the ballroom, followed shortly by the small, focused pulse of her own biotic throw. They could hear a metallic voice cry out in pain, followed by the sound of a biotic explosion as the throw made contact and pushed the attacker, with the explosion, into what sounded like more attackers. So that angle was taken care of, at least for a short while.

"Liara, I'm sure you have another unit of commandos aiming to catch our friends in their own rear?" At her nod, Shepard continued, "Please have them standby. And keep covering that door." She grabbed the stem of the cocktail table she was using as cover and uprooting it, lightening its mass as she did so, and began advancing towards the door. Splashes of glowing green particles bounced off the mass effect fields of the table as she moved, though considering how heavy the table was it was sure to have quite a bit of charge left. In the back of her mind, she noted that her arm was beginning to grow tired; enough of the momentum of the beams was making it to the field projector that she was being bodily pushed back.

Looking down the iron sights of her sidearm, Shepard was able to see that here were more Turians; typical of the barefaced terrorists who resented the Empire for the Hierarchy's vassaldom. There, one of the terrorists went down to a headshot from Vakarian's own sidearm. She began taking shots at the various body parts that appeared as the Turians began panic firing at her as she moved towards their position, step by step. Then came the moment she was expecting. One of the Turian ladies Garrus had been getting to know stepped up next to Liara, seeming to ask her host for direction in the chaos of the ballroom. Shepard set down the table and turned around, confident in the table's ability to withstand fire for just another minute or so. The Turian woman, while still talking to Liara, reached down into her clutch purse.

Shepard fired off a biotic throw at the woman, who was swept into a wall just as her suicide bomb exploded. The umbrella of the table Liara was using as cover did the rest. "Now you can send them in," she said with a wink as Liara's face blushed a fetching shade of magenta.

* * *

**iv.**

**October 18, 2149  
SUSV _Pa'ao  
_Near Iera Relay 3, Shadow Sea**

Radio chatter from the year-old colony of Horizon washed over her as she watched the stars, delighting in the output from the ship's sensors. Meanwhile, the exploratory team was in the slow, careful process of opening a new relay. The relay was projected to connect to the Nimbus cluster, which was some light-years away in the trailing direction. Gentle blue lights started to strobe down the length of the relay as the bootup sequence began. Telepresence robots retreated to the ship as it prepared to transit the relay. Susan thought to herself that relay bootup was one of the most majestic sights one could see; a marvel not only of Prothean engineering, but also of their art and aesthetics.

"Jumping in 5... 4..."

Susan started to organize the communications and sensor gear in preparation for the jump. After all, the captain was sure to want a prompt report on the star and their exact position in the galaxy.

"3... 2... 1..."

In a flash, they arrived—and almost exactly where they'd predicted, as well. Only they weren't alone. Seemingly guarding the dormant relay was a strange, if beautiful ship; it looked rather more grown than built, though her sensors indicated that its hull was every bit as metallic as that of the _Pa'ao_. The realization dawned on her that this was a first contact scenario, with a species likely quite different from humanity, judging only by their construction techniques.

She started to engage first contact protocols. Lights along the outside of the _Pa'ao_ began strobing in mathematical sequences; what little armament the ship contained also was held at the ready, and a courier drone was sent off using the relay to inform the Union of first contact. With any luck, it would be peaceful.

* * *

**October 18, 2149  
Hivemind Sthenia Tendril 6  
Near Pelion Relay 4, Nimbus Cluster**

The basic-forms all watched carefully as the _Pa'ao_ entered the Nimbus cluster. Some minutes ago, the relay had begun spinning up. So far, it had none of the indications of being an Imperial vessel. This new vessel was steel grey, with gentle curves and sharp edges both being quite different from the forty-five degree angles of Imperial craft. Furthermore, its weapons did not indicate the typical Imperial particle cannon, and it did not come with an armada to avenge the War.

Lights began to strobe along the lines of the new ship, and Tendril 6 began moving its mechanical appendages in the same pattern. When radio contact was established, they knew that this first contact would be peaceful.

* * *

**October 18, 2149  
SUSV _Pa'ao  
_Near Pelion Relay 4, Nimbus Cluster**

"First contact package away, sir."

"Good work, Susan. Now let's see how these aliens reply."

She'd set the radio to be just audible, with careful controls on the volume; if the ship happened to be hostile, at least they wouldn't allow the aliens to overwhelm the ears of any humans aboard. But what came over the radio was like nothing they expected. A truly beautiful song played out over the speakers of the _Pa'ao, _seemingly rich and full of meaning. Perhaps it was indeed. On that hunch, Susan began looking for the patterns of language in the sounds of the radio.

A few minutes later, she'd gathered enough to sing "Hello" to them. "We come in the name of humanity, to explore the stars."

The song changed and began repeating something else. After a few seconds, Susan was able to understand. "We are Tendril 6 of the Sthenia Hivemind, and we welcome you to our space. The Great Hive of the Rachni welcomes the Human Systems Union as a friend."

* * *

**IV.**

**January 8, 2183  
Systems Union Colony _Tree of Knowledge  
_Orbiting Eden Prime**

Okay, Shepard told herself. The Batarians were scattered around the colony, doing God knows what. But the hidden tracking beacon on the holographic data cube containing the Zha'til indicated that the majority of the invaders were clustered around the cube.

"Shepard, we've got some bad news," came Anderson's voice over the comm. "A super-dreadnought of some kind just jumped into the system. Unknown construction. Assumed hostile; we're going to have to leave you without a fallback ship."

"Acknowledged, Captain. What's the ETA on the Fifth Fleet?"

"I'm afraid they're still jumping in. ETA is two hours."

If the ship is there to exfiltrate the Batarians, then there's no way the in-system assets could prevent it from doing so, Shepard realized. First priority, then, would be to delay the Batarians. Capture of the Zha'til would have to come as a secondary priority. She directed her troops to make double time towards the nearest spaceport.

Fortunately, some of the robot platforms under her command were able to hover using mass effect fields, and the additional mass effect cores in each trooper's suits allowed them to hang on to the aerial platforms for a tremendous boost in speed.

As the Marine company sped down the corridors and through the wide open spaces of the colony, Shepard began formulating a plan. "Jenkins, what's the layout of the colony like near that spaceport?"

* * *

It was time to put Shepard's little plan into action, Vega thought to himself. He was pretty sure she was grooming him for N training, so he'd better not fuck it up. The Batarian picket lying stretched out beneath him provided the basis for the ruse; Tin Man had volunteered to be the bait. The AI platform had already used its holographic projectors to assume the form and bearing of the soldier they had just taken out. Vega grinned; the thought of stealth soldiers from a stealth ship tickled him.

"This new form is acceptable," Tin Man said to Vega. "Though it certainly lacks the... humor, of my usual form." He messaged Balak, the leader of the Batarians on board the_ Tree of Knowledge_. "We've got some humans incoming from behind us," Tin Man sneered.

"Finally, some resistance. Took them long enough to stop protecting their precious civilians and face the real threat. Rear pickets, withdraw to the main group! Forward pickets, if you miss a flank attack I will personally feed you to my varren!"

Well, it seemed that the Batarian leader was many things; but an idiot wasn't one of them. Still, the plan was still proceeding as expected. Tin Man projected the image of a jogging Batarian as he made his way to the main group of invaders, while most of his processing power was occupied with simulating the sleight of hand he'd have to perform to pull off the secondary goal of the plan.

Vega nodded at the retreating AI and began issuing orders to his platoon.

Balak cast a cool eye at the withdrawing rear pickets as his troops prepared to receive an attack from Union forces. It seemed that his gamble of taking human prisoners was about to pay off; he always had the upper hand in a hostage situation. Besides, they had time to spare despite the drop in speed escorting the hostages produced.

* * *

Shepard smiled tightly as her own worst fears were confirmed. Good thing this had been built into the plan.

An AI soldier nearby began relating the gist of a broadcast the Batarians were making. "Sir, the Batarians say that they have hostages, who they will release if they are allowed to withdraw from the colony. There's a lot of rambling going on, though. Something about the glory of the Batarian race, and the weakness of humans."

This enemy commander may be smart, Shepard thought, but I can use his ego against him. "Tin Man, we're going to go with a bit of a variation here; I think it'll be easier for you..."

* * *

Most of the company was now arrayed in various cover positions along one end of the park adjacent to the spaceport. Unfortunately, their control of the station's environmental controls wouldn't be usable in this scenario; not if the hostages were to be spared. Balak's troops were mostly in the central portion of the park; the North side of the park was almost completely devoid of cover, though if they could reach the spaceport then they'd have a much stronger position, if only for the chokepoint the walls afforded. The company's snipers had already demonstrated that it was a bad idea to attempt a crossing, so the two sides were at a temporary stalemate. The enemy knew that if it weren't for the human shields, they would likely be sealed off and asphyxiate in the artificial environment.

It was a study in contrasts; the marines were equipped with the best gear credits could buy, with a couple bot swarms providing excellent disposable firepower, and some of the most advanced mass effect kinetic barriers in the galaxy. But most of their weapons were conventional firearms powered by the mass effect. The Batarians had demonstrated that those particle rifles of theirs really did work, another indication of tremendous resources from an unknown source. It seemed likely that they had a Salarian benefactor, as most of the rifles were of Salarian make. On the other hand, their armor was typical for a mercenary force; that is to say, highly variable. Balak's armor was likely of excellent make; the assorted other troops barely had barriers at all.

Presently, one of the Batarians peeled off from the main group and seemed to be launching an all-out futile charge on the Union positions, though the Batarians soon realized that none of its shots seemed to be hitting anything. Shepard grimaced; it was unfortunate to have to reveal their capabilities like this, but hopefully they would simply believe that the traitor was one of theirs.

"We now have the Zha'til," said one of the AIs in Batarian, "but we are willing to exchange it for the lives of your hostages."

Balak said something that indicated an affirmative reply after a tense minute, if they would also be allowed to escape; one of the VI drones picked up the case with the decoy memory core and ferried it over to Balak, who scanned it with some sort of tool before nodding to his troops. He began speaking: "A continued demonstration of the weakness of the Humans! They give us what we came for, even after they stole it from us; but is it not the thief's prerogative to do what they will with the theft? Show these humans just how weak they are! Execute the prisoners!"

Fortunately the park was built on top of a set of powerful mass effect field projectors, used to generate opposing teams for sports games, or various other simulations. The Batarians found it difficult to kill the hostages; in fact, simulated Empire soldiers used in the colony's defensive drills appeared on the field and began killing the Batarians. But Balak had absurdly powerful mass effect barriers, and had already managed to run most of the way to the spaceport before the hostage takers could be killed; a combination of insanely fast reflexes and powerful barriers allowed him to escape, with the decoy.

The mission was a complete success, though it was going to get hairy fighting the scattered pockets of Batarians in the colony. Already, three hostages in other areas of the colony had been killed. But there would be time to mourn later. Shepard had a job to do.

* * *

**Codex: The Turian Hierarchy**

Although the Turian Hierarchy comprises only the fifth largest economy in the Empire, it remains a potent political force due to the strength of its military. This, too, is not the largest or most powerful in the Empire. But the two-thousand-year line of Turian heroes who have served under the Imperial banner is far out of proportion to the size of the Hierarchy. Aggrippinus, who commanded the defense of Relay 934; Junius Brutus, who led the army that destroyed the leadership of the Second Krogan Rebellion; and Quintus Camillianus, the legate from Palaven who guarded the Everlasting Gate with his own life in the Zorya Revolt of 1401; these are only a few of the illustrious names of Imperial Turian worthies.

The secret to this success lies in the dedication to service of its people. The Turians have the highest rate of military and civilian service in the Empire, even past the age of mandatory service that is also unique to the Hierarchy. While its command structure is, at times, rigid to the extreme and exceedingly proud, it has also been able to foster this, the longest political tradition in the Empire, since the Turians' own Unification War 2,500 years ago.

But the Turians' pride is often their own downfall. In the 1632 Salarian and Turian Rebellion, the combined Home Fleets of Palaven and Sur'Kesh blockaded Zorya for ten months. While Imperial citizens starved on the world below, the leaders of this weak rebellion were unable to gather the political will sufficient to seize Imperium from the Everliving Emperor, May His Name Be Hallowed. The combined strength of the Empire smashed through the pickets guarding Palaven and Sur'Kesh and made craters out of one major city on the surface of each planet until the blocade of Zorya was lifted. But the pride of the Turian Hierarchy was brittle as well as strong, and the betrayal of the Salarian Union was sufficient to smash it. The ecological damage to Sur'Kesh was terrible to behold; parts of Palaven still resemble the surface of Menae.

Many have attempted to seize the throne. None have succeeded, By the Grace of the Dawnbringer.

* * *

**Legislative Summary: SUSV _Normandy, _For Your Eyes Only**

The _Normandy_ is named for the defense of Normandy beach in GWII. Its appearance is similar to that of the standard SU frigate of the _Ci Bi_ class, though it lacks the small fin on the rear ventral surface. The reason for this is simple: the _Normandy_'s reactor is of sufficient power that aerodynamics are simply less of a concern. Instead, the larger concern is that of evading detection.

The _Normandy's_ sensor evasion suite is centered around a single, enormously powerful AI, who has chosen the name Edith. Her avatar is that of a very human-like robot, though obviously synthetic. She is armed with several of our most advanced packages for VI blinding and spoofing, targeted to all of our allies, as well as Union AI. This last, however, should not be relied upon, as a similarly equipped AI will not be fooled by our software.

The _Normandy_ possesses a suite of holographic sensors that allow it to mimic any model of ship into which its profile can fit. This, in conjunction with the anti-VI packages, should allow the _Normandy_ to bypass the security of any of our allies in order to conduct stealth missions, retrieve VIPs, and serve as a test bed for our first-strike capabilities.

Its internal layout is also typical to Union frigates, with horizontally-oriented decks and a central bridge. In fact, this layout is almost identical to the _Ci Bi _class as well. The main exception is that the Engineering deck is quite a bit larger, in order to accommodate the huge MAMA reactor and its twin in size, the S03 element zero core, as well as a cruiser-sized battery system.

It has a standard command and engineering crew, with an additional infowar AI focused on the internal security of the ship. Its Marine complement consists of several marines, as well as the typical AI and VI controlled mech swarm.

* * *

AN: The longest chapter so far; I'm stretching out my muscles for that, I suppose. I think in the future I'll bounce around about as much, but stay on each viewpoint longer. I couldn't figure out where to drop the Empire's identity in here, but I've revealed much more of the political situation as a consolation prize...


End file.
